On the early morning of March 10, 2003, after a night of partying in Pensacola, Ryan Joseph Holle lent his car to a friend and housemate, William Allen, Jr. William used the car to drop three men off at the house of Christine Snyder, where they removed a safe containing 1 pound of marijuana and $425.00. During the burglary, one of the men, Charles Miller, Jr., used a shotgun he had found in the house to bludgeon Jessica Snyder, 18, to death.

Ryan, who had given the police statements in which he seemed to admit knowing about the burglary, was convicted on August 3, 2004, of first-degree murder. Ryan said in a pretrial deposition that all he did was to say “use the car.” “I mean, nobody really knew that girl was going to get killed. It was not in the plans to go kill somebody, you know,” he said. He also stated, “I honestly thought they were going to get food,” adding that “When they actually mentioned what was going on, I thought it was a joke.” He added that he was naïve and had been drinking all night so he didn’t understand what was going on.

Charles Miller Jr., pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Ryan Holle was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Donnie Lee Williams, 20, Jermond Lamonte Thomas, 23, and William Murphy Allen Jr., 24 also received a first-degree murder conviction and are all spending life in prison for their parts in the murder.